Let’s start by casting our eyes back to the far-away year of 2011, when Kickstarter was still the cool kid on the block and a glasses-camera startup named Zioneyez was looking for funds. Here’s how we first described the crowdfunding hardware company’s post-mortem here at TechCo: That’s right, a tried and true founder pulled in $340K and still flopped. What’s more, failed hardware campaigns are a dime a dozen, from the $10 million Pebble to the $12.8 million Ubuntu Edge to Jawbone to Njoy to Jucerio. Is it really just constant underestimation of the challenges? A new study from CB Insights, reported on by Wired’s Erin Griffith, notes the number one reason behind crowdfunding hardware failures: lack of consumer interest. The second most likely reason for failure was a fast burn rate, while the third reason, a lack of interest after the initial campaign, mirrors the first reason. It’s a weird truth about crowdfunding: A small group of people can get so hyped for the idea of bringing a new product into the world that they’ll collectively shell out millions, but once the excitement of birthing a new device has worn off, the greater community doesn’t care. It’s like a group of early adapters are living in their own universe, in which they’re constantly the first to try out something that will never exist — and leaving a trail of failed crowdfunding hardware campaigns in their wake. The takeaway? Make sure you gauge interest in your product outside the crowdfund-loving tech community before you set up that Kickstarter page. Read more about the pros and cons of crowdfunding here at TechCo
